Big things are happening at Youtube as 4K, or Ultra HD video becomes available on the prolific service. An article by Mashable’s Pete Pachal stated earlier this year that 4k, or Ultra HD footage will come in a new format called VP9, a royalty-free codec that will also reportedly offer a better experience with Google Hangouts, according to GigaOm. Pachal also states that the VP9 codec consumes considerably less data than other commercial codecs (such as H.265), letting the service stream higher-quality streams with less bandwidth.

For us at Tallgrass Pictures this is fantastic news! As a commercial production company, we produce everything from high speed motion capture, to aerial helicopter footage, computer generated graphics, and feature films all in High Definition.

For Gavin, TGP senior Editor, his interest in UHD started at NAB last year when he got to screen video on an 8K tv. “It was like looking out a window” Gavin remembers while explaining the differences between 4k and 1080p mastering. According to Gavin, there are not many differences in mastering 4k versus 1080p, except for increased render times and larger files; but beyond that 4k monitors are not household items, at least not yet. For us this had meant that the Ultra HD footage we’ve been shooting for 5 years can now finally be realized in online video, creating a richer viewing experience for our clients.

In the past with sites like Youtube our crisp, surreal imagery would lose and great deal of its luster when compressed to for web, it simply did not do it justice. Today that is a thing of the past, now with this new codec TGP and creators of all sorts are able to more easily share beautifully crafted content online!

This is exciting news to our team, and we’d like celebrate by sharing one of our Award Winning comedy shorts American Sock.

Our recent shoot at Harrah’s Rincon Casino & Resort was like the great casino itself, big and bold. It was a nicely sized production with 30 cast & crew. We shot with a couple of RED epics, capturing both stills and video. The stills looked amazing and, at 50 MB, huge. Harrah’s also hooked us up with their amazing buffet, providing steak and lobster for everybody. (Many thanks for Ryan, Amber & Patty for that!)

Production base was composed of 2 of the casino’s largest suites, jacuzzis included. This housed all the wardrobe and the equipment that we couldn’t haul to our 8 shooting locations. It was certainly our first time having hair, make up & wardrobe in the same room as a jacuzzi.

In our assignment, we illustrated Harrah’s Rincon Casino & Resort's transition to a luxury resort, so we spent the day capturing several of their upgraded amenities, like Dive, their new outdoor pool area, which is complete with lazy river, swim up bar and spa. By wrap time, we had shot 10 talent in 8 places in 12 hours, and had plenty of great footage to show for it.